MichaelJMcKernan Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I've been looking for a top loader for several months now. Cannot find one anywhere!!! They are way out of my league on Epay right now, and they probably always will be. I was thinking of putting an ad in the local "Thrifty Nickel" mag looking for one, has anyone ever tried this? Has anyone ever seen them at a thrift store? Will I die without ever knowing what it feels like to have my NES games work every time? It's funny, this wasn't even an issue until I got "Baseball Stars" and lose my season every three days, because my kid wants to play Super Mario Bros 3. :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Atari Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 Never, and I really want one, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A2600 Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I saw one at the Flea and bought it for 5 bucks in Puerto Rico and I bought just to trde it for a Loaded INTVII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamerz Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I have replaced my 72 pin connecter in my front loader and it works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A2600 Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I have replaced my 72 pin connecter in my front loader and it works great same here really didnt need that TL just had it for "kicks" you know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I've seen a few at thrift stores. I don't collect for NES, so for a long time I didn't know the toploaders were so highly prized and I missed some valuable trade bait. I picked one up for $6, sans dog-bones, and traded it later for a 7800. Seems like the thrifts are catching on though. The last toploader I saw was in a display case for $80. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJMcKernan Posted August 13, 2003 Author Share Posted August 13, 2003 I see regular Nintendos all the time for about 5 bucks. I've gotten the dog bone controllers already for a few bucks. Hell I even saw a Sega Master System the other day for 10 bucks with the light gun. SNES for 5 bucks. But no top loader. Not ever. I probably hit the thrifts 3-4 times a week. This is my next idea: Has anyone ever tried to make nice with Mr. Thrift Store employee? Offered him a little cash on the down low to find something? Would that even be ethical? Oh, how the mind boggles....but I think that would take the fun out of the hunt completely. I don't think I could do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerGnome Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 Not only is it completly ethical but also make freinds with your local garbage man and Apartment property managers and turn over guys.. also do not be afraid to do a little dumpster diving now and then.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbid Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 i agree, a 72-pin connector from http://www.mcmelectronics.com is only six bucks, and makes a front loading NES play like new. plus the top loader does not offer AV outputs, and game failure can also be common on this system, the only difference is that the screen wont flash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christianscott Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 i was on a hot streak for awhile and at one point had 6 toploaders piled up on my trade stack. i'm pretty convinced its a geographical thing, they seem to turn up around boston pretty often. i've noticed that "game" stores know what they are but other place still dont. one flea market lady who sold me 3 of them thought they were inferior to the regular NES. she thought they needed special wires so she could never sell them as complete, she called them the "baby nintendos". in any case they're not an amazingly rare item, just highly desired by those in the know. come to think of it i've never seen one at a thrift but these days i never see anything good at thrifts period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougy76 Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I've been looking for a top loader for several months now.Cannot find one anywhere!!! They are way out of my league on Epay right now, and they probably always will be. I was thinking of putting an ad in the local "Thrifty Nickel" mag looking for one, has anyone ever tried this? Has anyone ever seen them at a thrift store? Will I die without ever knowing what it feels like to have my NES games work every time? It's funny, this wasn't even an issue until I got "Baseball Stars" and lose my season every three days, because my kid wants to play Super Mario Bros 3. :wink: Only one, and it's the one I'm currently using. Found it at a thrift in Cleveland for $2 I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I've been thinking about it... Should I get a front-loader when I already have a top-loader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshk Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I have picked up 2 toploaders lately at Thrift/garage sales. Bad thing I had just pick one up off ebay with BIN for $45.00, but can't complain to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 Got one 3 years ago for $25 at a Sacramento flea market. Don't really like it because of those faint vertical lines in the screen. It still had them after I did the composite mod. Tried to fix it by adding decoupling caps in various places but no luck. For my frontloader, I just opened it up and bent the contactor pins so they would grip the cart tighter. It works great now, but really have to pull to get a cart out. Best of all, I can put my intv2 right on top of it for extra shelfspace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avid Fan Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 On ebay there is a guy selling Top Loaders for about 100 -125. But the real kicker is that they are modified for RCA output, not RF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebue Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 I got lucky and got one for $5 with a broken ac adapter (but I already had one from my front loader) and got a dogbone for a few bucks more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmi Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 i paid $20 for mine at a fleamarket came with controllers and hookups that was about 3 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinovelvet Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 Never at a thrift store, but I've found four at flea markets (from $8 to $20), one at a garage sale (for $3 ) and one at a Gamestop ($35) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I got lucky one day and found just the system at the flea market a few weeks back. The price was definately right : $1.00 I took it home cleaned it up and threw on standard NES parts, it is my little champion. The unit allowed me to actually TEST all of my NES carts that had been piling up since my front loader started giving me fits. The system does get rather warm though so I try not to run it for extended periods of time. Accursed overtemped power regulators... bleah. Hex. [ Needs more 2 part thermal epoxy... ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeV0 Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Ive seen to lop loaders at the thrift stores, never with the dogbones though. I think ive seen more famicom clones at the markets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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